Thursday in the Fifth Week of Lent

From the call to be God’s children, to God’s promise to Abraham of a covenant spanning generations, to Jesus describing the glory of God his Father, it keeps coming back to the connection of family. Family means multitudes of things: relatives, a close network of friends that becomes a found family, church family.

The Disney movie Lilo and Stitch takes place in Hawaii, and uses the refrain that “Ohana means family, and family means that nobody gets left behind or forgotten.” Sisters, friends, little blue aliens who love to sing Elvis songs: everybody works together to help save the day. People look out for each other, and lift each other up so that nobody gets left behind, and keep sharing the stories that mean nobody gets forgotten.

To me, family means a big group gathered around a long table, with lots of food and laughter. Sometimes that big table is a crowd of relatives. Sometimes, it’s a crowd of friends. There’s always room to bring in another chair, to fill another plate, to let someone in on the joke. I’ve heard people call their dearest friends and important people a “chosen family” and I really like that. It makes the close-knit group formed in shared memories more deliberate, and helps us promise each other that everyone gets to share, and nobody gets left behind.

These short essays represent the collected labor of a group of like-minded individuals who are seeking to understand the world around them, and their place in it, within the context of the gospels. Each reflection strives to unravel the mystery which lies at the center of the gospels’ beating heart — the command “to love thy neighbor as thyself.”

To love thy neighbor as thyself. What does it mean to love one’s neighbor? And perhaps even more mysteriously, what does it mean to love one’s self? How does one love? And what is love anyway?

Much is being said about the dark times we live in, but to the well-organized mind these times might be seen as an opportunity to test one’s self; to put one’s faith into action; to discover who we really are as a people, as a nation and as individuals. Who am I? Who are we ? It is only when there is a crisis, when we are challenged, that we can hope to find out. Not all will be victory, but each right action, each kind act has the power to elevate us to higher ground, to transform our lives and bring us closer to the true meaning of our lives and our true purpose in the world.

With these thoughts in mind I commend these writings to you. May it speed you on your way and bring you closer to your own true purpose — and your own beating heart.

In one sense, Good Friday is probably considered the darkest day of the Christian year. After all, we commemorate the crucifixion, and the Church traditionally observes the day with a solemn three-hour service, and with fasting. However, it is also part of the “Triduum” or three great days extending from Maundy Thursday to Easter Eve… [ More → ]

Feet are strong — each foot contains 26 bones, 33 joints, and more than 100 muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Feet are also sensitive — from a harmless tickle to a fractured toe or heel spur. All this said, feet tend to get a bad rap. Because of this stigma we tend to hide our feet and are protective of them, which brings me to the reading from John. [ More → ]

Of course, you get what you need exactly when you need it! And I need Psalm 70!

After six and half decades on Planet Earth, I am approaching 70. And for the first time in my life, I am experiencing Evil — bad people & bad situations. I quote Psalm 23 a lot. I feel I walk through a valley of the shadow of death. [ More → ]

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A hard-copy version of the Lenten Devotional book with Ascension parishioners' reflections on the readings for the season is available by request using this form or by calling the church office at 212-254-8620. (A suggested donation of $7 covers the cost of printing and postage.)

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